Pr. 11:3: “The integrity of the upright will guide them, but the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them.”
The word that piqued my interest in this verse this morning was ‘guide.’ I find it interesting that the thing that will guide us is integrity. It’s not just recommended or a good idea, integrity will guide us.
Have you ever thought about that before? Have you ever thought, “If I want some guidance today, I will start with integrity!”? I sure haven’t.
When we’re making plans and decisions; however, if you really think about it, integrity does determine which path we choose to take.
Ok, here’s an example: There are days when I’d love to nothing but sit on the couch and read all day. Seriously, all day. My integrity; however, will not allow me to do that because I have responsibilities in my home. My integrity drives me to keep up my end of things and do my work. So, I take an allotted amount of time to read, and then I move on to my other tasks.
Let’s look at the other side of this verse: the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them. We can probably all give examples of this. Lying sets us up to be found out and to lose others’ trust. Cheating and stealing can get us punished in all kinds of ways. Constant excuses render us unreliable. Unforgiveness and lack of mercy clothe us in bitterness and anger that affects all of our relationships. A consistent track record of these kind of things causes our character, and sometimes our quality of life, to be destroyed.
2 Cor. 3:3 talks about being an epistle of Christ, written not with ink, but by the Spirit of the living God. Our lives are a story. If we allow integrity and the Holy Spirit to guide us, then our story points to Christ and His love. We don’t have to declare ourselves as good people, as honest and faithful, or even as Christians. Our actions tell that story for us.
If perversity guides us, we are telling a much different story, and no matter what we think, that truth and destruction cannot be hidden. It is there for all to see.
So today, we need to look to integrity to help us determine what choices we will make. If integrity is our guide, our actions will reflect it.
Seek out that guide today,
jamie
considering the word 